1. I’m obsessed with being well-hydrated, when I’m running or not. Nuun helps me achieve that goal.
2. My favorite flavors: Tropical,Strawberry Lemonade, Fruit Punch.
3. They have the cutest packaging ever.
4. Licking a Nuun tablet before I put it in my water is kind of like the grown up version of Pop Rocks.
5. It is the only way Kara Goucher and I will ever be on the same team.
6. On days I’m not feeling the workout, I remind myself that if I do, I get to drink Nuun.
7. Nuun Energy—they added Caffeine and Vitamins, people! I can’t wait to race using that!
8. I am excited to wear this snazzy singlet in my post-baby races.
9. Running Hood to Coast on the Nuun team was one of the greatest experiences of my running life, and I’m proud to be associated with a brand that treats its biggest fans the way they treated us.
10. It works, people. It works. Trust the force, Luke.
11. No gummy, gunky, sugary energy drink mouth—even after 26.2 miles.
12. The athletes I’ve met both in real life and online who also love Nuun inspire and encourage me every day.
13. They got my sense of humor when I sent them this video:

14. They’ve made me a hydration authority among my network of people. Now I get to help people reach their goals—that’s an awesome thing.
15. I get to rebuild a lot of things in 2015 after injury and baby. Knowing that both Nuun the company and Nuun the product has my back motivates me to do my best.

Like this:

It’s no secret that I love Nuun. That was pretty obvious when I made my video and submitted to become a part of Nuun’s Hood to Coast team.

Now, I’m excited to tell you I’m an ambassador for the brand! I’ll get to share lots of cool stuff about Nuun and hydration with you, and who doesn’t want to experience Better Living Through Hydration? 😀 (Like this: get 15% off Nuun with code hydrateHTC, now through the end of September. Use it all you want!)

Anyway, I wanted to tell you my Nuun story and fill you in on more about your hydration options with Nuun.

Here’s my story of how I first came to love Nuun. I tried it thanks to Dimity and Sarah when I got the chance to meet them at an Another Mother Runner party in the spring of 2012. Shortly thereafter, when my sister and I went to run the Cooper River Bridge Run, and she ended up scarily dehydrated. She didn’t feel good. She was tired but couldn’t sleep. She was also not making a lot of sense when she talked, which would’ve been funny except it was scary.

So, I Nuun’ed her. Gave her some of mine and made sure she drank it. I then followed her around Charleston, with a continuous stream of “Did you drink something?,” “When did you have a drink?” “Drink something!!!” I’ll stop short of saying it saved her life, but it definitely helped her get back to her normal self much more quickly than if we’d gone it alone. She ultimately got to feeling much better, and I credit the Nuun in helping her get back to normal, sooner. You saved my sister, Nuun! Thank you!

I also credit it with helping me have such a great training cycle and marathon last winter. It tasted so good (no sports-drink sticky mouth) and kept me firing so well that it was all I used to hydrate. And… I cut 37 minutes off my time from 11 months prior. Thanks, Nuun.

So, why should you love Nuun, too? First, you need to understand the importance of hydration. It’s just… fundamental. And yet, many of us don’t stay hydrated. Nuun has a great Hydration 101 page on their site. Here are some highlights:

—Staying hydrated makes you smarter and more effective!“Proper hydration is essential for concentration and attention to detail, whether you’re running a marathon, or a marathon of errands. Even a small decline in dehydration levels can result in a decrease of mental and physical performance.”

—If you’re an American, you probably need to go get a glass of water (or Nuun). “An estimated 75 percent of Americans are chronically dehydrated.”

Nuun All Day Hydration helps you drink more water every day with crisp and refreshing flavors and is enhanced with a blend of vitamins and minerals making it perfect for your daily routine. Grapefruit Orange is light and citrusy-I like it!

So, let’s celebrate hydration! I’m doing a giveaway to get you hooked up with a four-pack of your choice to keep you hydrated this summer! Here are your options to enter:

1. Leave me a comment below and tell me how you know when it’s time to hydrate (One entry).

2. Follow me on Twitter! Then leave a comment on this post and let me know ya did or that you already do. (One entry.)

3. Follow me on Instagram (twistnrun) Then leave a comment on this post and let me know ya did or that you already do. (One entry.)

4. Follow Nuun on Twitter, and leave a comment on this post when you do (One entry.)

5. Follow this blog and leave a comment on this post that you did. (One entry.)

6. Tweet about the giveaway and link to it, then comment on this post that you did (Once a day, one entry each tweet & comment.) Suggested wording: “Here’s to hydration and a Nuun giveaway from @twistnrun! http://wp.me/p25DR7-ou&#8221;

Here’s to hydration!

(Contest ends at midnight EST on July 12th, 2013. Winner will be announced on the blog and via Twitter by July 15th, 2013. Nuun is providing the 4-pack to the winner–I’m just providing my opinion! –LM)

We were all packed, and ready to head out and meet the team. Not meet UP with the team; actually MEET the team.That’s right–we had never met a single soul on the team before we went to our captain, Tim’s place the night before the race. We had been Facebook friends with Tim for months, though, and interacted with a few of the team members on the multi-sport group Tim has set up on FB. So this was a new adventure in every way. Here’s the team before we took off for Madison:

We spent some time decorating the vans. Here’s the cast of characters for Van 2:

Tim was not only captaining the team and running the anchor legs, but also volunteering at the start line, driving Van 2, and excelling at not smelling. True story. We’re not sure he’s human.

In a race like Ragnar, where it’s hard to tell how you’re actually doing as a team, some people keep track of their “roadkill”–the people they pass on each leg–and put it on the side of the van. Some folks find it distasteful, but I think it’s all in good fun. And that’s coming from someone who WAS the roadkill for most of the runners on my legs.

Let’s go!

I found this on the way to Madison. Gross, just gross. And yes, I painted my nails yellow just for Ragnar. Don’t they look fast that way? 🙂

We stayed overnight Thursday night at a hotel in Madison. Tim was getting up at 4 to volunteer at the start line, and it was nice to have some time together and to get some good rest before the race. The logistics of 4 women in the same room and showering meant that we probably got far less sleep than a lot of the guys–I was up at 6 AM and didn’t start running until 5PM! Oh well, it felt nice and relaxed and for someone who doesn’t do ‘nice and relaxed’ well, it was great to have the downtime, even if it was waking downtime.

The start line. A relay will stagger start times over the course of several hours, so it’s hard to get a feel for how big the race actually is. This race had 422 teams, though, of 6-12 runners each–and mostly 12. That’s a lot of people. And I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that this race went off flawlessly, logistics-wise, even with a substantial rise in the number of times from the previous year. We never encountered a problem, through 36 exchanges. Respect, Ragnar. Respect.

The start line felt festival-ish. Kind of like Bonnaroo, only with runners instead of drunk college kids. They even have a merch tent. And yes, we bought things.

I love this truck.

10 AM came and it was time for team Better Off in the Long Run to start. You can see Derik on the far right in the red shirt and black visor. He took off and the rest of Van 1 headed to the first exchange.

Van 2 had some time to kill. We made sure the electric was functioning. Then we went to have second breakfast. Scone. Coffee. Yes, please.

After fueling, we headed to the first Major Exchange, #6, where Van 1 would hand off to us. These big exchanges are where a lot of the fun happens. A lot of vendors have tents set up, there are sleeping areas at night, and DJ’s playing music. It’s fun.

The Running Waldos all ran in red and white stripes, and decorated their van accordingly. Note to self: crepe ribbon does not stand up well to road travel.

We had time to kill. Time for another tat.

It was hot. I mean, HOT. The 2011 race had been cold and rainy, from what I hear. Wisconsin was making up for it this year. At last, around 3, Ramen came screaming in from a HARD 10-mile leg. He handed off the slap bracelet to Lisa and just like that, Van 2 was racing.

Lisa handed off to David.

See the GoPro on his head? It makes my neck hurt just looking at it. But he got GREAT stuff for the video.

I was runner 9, so David handed off to me. I had an 8.2 mile route, and I have to say, I was a little nervous. I tend to wilt in the heat. But I was well-hydrated and pretty sure of my Atlanta-heat-training. But, as so often happens, I was thwarted by what went on in my head, and that affected my body.

Just prior to my start, we were talking about road kill and competitiveness. I’m not competitive when I run–I am my own greatest motivator and, in turn, worst enemy. Just in casual conversation, I was getting incredible racing tips from Katie and Tim, but they were tips I needed to save for different races, when I could implement them in a more familiar situation. Instead, I got all motivated and I set a bullseye on the woman who took off right before me. So stupid. She looked like someone I could take-but doesn’t any veteran racer know that you just CANNOT tell from first glance who will be faster or slower than you? I should’ve just focused on my goals for the leg and let her go. Instead, I went out scorching fast for me–and in the scorching heat, things started to go very wrong. First, I got goosebumps. The max temp that day was 93. Goosebumps, for me, in those kinds of temps, can either mean that I’m having a heat exertion issue, or a blood sugar issue. I’ll go with blood sugar on this day, as my inner dialogue starts to get incredibly stupid when that happens. Ergo, the conversation I began to have with myself:

“My sugar is going low. I need some Gatorade.”

“But you only have 8 ounces of Gatorade. The rest is Nuun–no sugar. What if your blood sugar drops later?”

“But I need it now, I should drink it now.”

“No, no, you definitely need to save it. You know, in case you need it. Later.”

“Oh, right. I’ll tough it out. Just in case I need it… later.”

Right. So my sugar was low and I was worrying about what happened if my sugar went low, later. Again, it makes me stupid. I went for the Nuun and nursed a little bit of Gatorade, and remembered that the van was going to be there to support me just before we went off the road and onto a trail at mile 4. I spotted the van about a 1/2 mile away, and was struggling mightily. But I didn’t want to struggle in front of all these people I didn’t know! So I faked being strong for another 1/2 mile. I have to say, van support is the coolest thing. They ALL got out of the van to come say hi. David had the GoPro, and Tim handed me water. “It’s not pretty, ” I rasped at Tim, and kept going. Then I had to KEEP LOOKING STRONG as I went up a sizeable hill while they loaded back up and drove past me. As soon as they passed, I thought, I need to call David and ask them to come back. With Gatorade. I need sugar. But then, we turned onto the trail and I didn’t want to risk the time. But I was just… done. I was still thinking wacky. I was hot. At this point the conversation in my head went something like this:

“What was I thinking? Why am I doing this? Oh look, pretty Wisconsin farmland. Anyway, how am I going to survive this race? I’m not even a real runner. Hey, I see birdies! Seriously, I’m not a runner at all! Who am I kidding? I hope none of the trees on this trail fall on me.” The trail became a lot of run/walk action. I can’t even stand to look at my Garmin from this run because of miles 5, 6, and 7. I WAS the roadkill for every runner 9 around.

(ASIDE: Male Ragnarians, it is never appropriate to say things like “lookin’ strong, mama” or “good job, boo” when passing a female runner. Just trust me. I know because IT HAPPENED TO ME. Don’t do it.)

But back to our story. I ran. Slowly. I walked some. I ran again. Finally, at about mile 6.5, yet another runner came whomp-whomp-whomping up beside me. “Did you go to Boyle County or Danville High School?” he said. “Um, Danville. Boyle County. Wait, both. But I graduated from Danville. WAIT WHY DO YOU KNOW WHERE I’M FROM?” I wracked my brain to think about what I was wearing that would give it away. He told me he had overheard me hollering at a guy in the parking lot at Exchange 8 about his UK shirt and saying I was from Danville. Ah. Anyway, this guy pretty much saved me the last 1.7 miles. He is from Central Kentucky, and we chatted the whole rest of the way. He must have known I was struggling, and his good, kindhearted and, as I found out, Mormon soul, paced me into the next exchange at a not-entirely-disrespectable clip. He could’ve completely smoked me, too, I’m sure. But instead… I don’t know. It was just so nice. So the way awesome way the running community can be. As we neared the exchange, he even told me to go in front of him. I refused but he insisted, which is why you see me below, about 2.5 feet in front of him, handing off the slap bracelet. Thank you, Man originally from Woodford County who now lives in Wheaton, IL. You helped me out, a lot.

Alright. So with that ordeal over, I handed off to George, who handed off to Katie. Nightime safety hours approached and we donned our vests, headlamps, and blinky red lights. Katie later said something strange had happened to her knee part of the way through her leg, but finished strong and handed off to Tim. They are both speed ninjas, so it was hard to get them on camera.

Tim is… fast. Like, AG wins in both his half-marathons this year. He’s a strong runner. He blazed to Exchange 12 (another big exchange with lots of stuff, people, and food going on) right on time. Here’s an interesting thing that happened that we hadn’t thought of. For Ragnar, a race worker stands about .1 mile from the exchange and reads your bib number into a walkie-talkie. The receiver of the message calls out the number so the next team member is ready to go. But bibs sometimes get messed up, or it’s dark, or whatever. At this exchange, we were expecting Tim anytime. The worker at the exchange called ‘224.’ David said “I bet that’s Tim. They read the bib wrong.” And so it was. But since Dave had said that, Derik was ready and we lost no time. My tip: During your leg, when you see the walkie-talkie, yell out your bib number to help them out.

Here goes Derik… setting out on the first of Van 1’s second legs. Does that make sense?

Coming up: We will play “Alien, Homeless, or Ragnarian?,” discover the most delicious twist on the S’more since Nutella, and answer the question “Will Lindsay get the Sunrise Leg in this race?” All that, and more, in tomorrow’s post.

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